Birth control, abortion at issue

Political turmoil spreads suddenly over two very sensitive issues

Associated Press

Associated Press

Published 9:51 pm, Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Karen Handel speaks during an interview in Atlanta Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Handel announced earlier her resignation as vice president for public policy for Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Falls Church, Va. Reversing an earlier stand, President Barack Obama is now encouraging donors to give generously to the kind of political fundraising groups he has assailed as a "threat to democracy." Obama's re-election campaign says he has little choice if he is to compete with the big-money conservative groups that have proven highly successful with attack ads in the Republican primaries. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

DAYTON, Ohio — Political turmoil over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

The White House made a point of declaring it wanted to ease the concerns of church-affiliated employers — many would be required to provide birth control coverage to their workers under the new rules — but there was no word on how those concerns might be addressed.

The two-track drama pumped new furor into longstanding disputes that sometimes take a back seat in political campaigns because the lines are so familiar and firmly drawn. Last week's Komen-Planned Parenthood dispute stirred many women's groups that support legal abortion. And the Obama ruling touched a nerve with moderate Roman Catholics who support contraceptives but also defend their church's right to run its hospitals and other institutions according to religious convictions.

Republican presidential candidates pounced on what they considered a blunder by President Barack Obama. They believe his administration's ruling will alienate moderate Catholic voters who could prove crucial in November in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

There also could be political repercussions from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy. The breast-cancer charity, facing fierce criticism, mostly from women's groups, quickly overturned its decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a major provider of abortions, but it also screens women for breast cancer and other health problems.

In Atlanta, Karen Handel, a Komen vice president who played a role in the fund cutoff decision, resigned Tuesday. A Republican who ran for governor in Georgia, Handel was seen by some as an example of what they felt was an increasing tendency by Komen to bring partisan politics into the charity's decisions.

"I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale and my involvement in it," Handel said in her resignation letter.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for his part, said he supported Komen's original decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

The arguments came as the GOP presidential hopefuls campaigned in several states and Republicans voted in Colorado and Minnesota. Each candidate tried to take advantage of the unusually intense focus on reproductive issues.